The present invention relates to wireless local area network apparatus.
A wireless local area network commonly comprises a plurality of communication stations located in a Basic Service Area (BSA). The stations can send and receive communication signals via a base station and, in this manner, the base station receives the signals from a station in the BSA and re-transmits the signals to the intended recipient station.
The BSA can be provided as one of a plurality of BSAs which together form an Extended Service Area. In this case, the base station of each BSA may comprise an access point for a backbone infrastructure for connecting the BSAs for allowing communication between stations in different BSAs within the Extended Service Area.
Communication between stations, whether by way of a base station or otherwise, can require synchronization between a transmitter of one station or an access point and a receiver of another station. Disadvantageously, accurate synchronization between a transmitter and a receiver in a BSA cannot be readily achieved due, in particular, to operational limitations such as transmission and reception delays and delays in accessing the wireless medium.